Graters for grating food items such as cheese and chocolate are well-known and are a commonly used item in kitchens everywhere. Such devices typically have a removable grater blade attached to a housing, such that a food item in the housing is pressed to and grated by the rotatable grater blade. The resulting grated food is then usually captured in either a housing cylinder open at one or both ends or in a separate detached container.
Where one end of the cylinder is open, the grater can be positioned over a container to allow the flow of grated food to tumble into the container. Where the housing cylinder itself is used, a hand crank typically covers one end of the cylinder, while a detachable end cap covers the other open end. Eventually, the grated food is usually then transferred en masse to a container. In either case, the process can be quite messy and grated food product can be lost in the process.
Some food graters, the housing cylinder can be used as a temporary collection and storage receptacle for grated food. In such cases, the graters may include housings that enable measurement of the grated product. The grinding and storage cylinder may even be removable from the rest of the housing. However, dispensing of the grated food has been largely ignored.
Other food grating devices are known to include additional components attached to the housing that form a handle or other means of grasping the grater. The addition of multiple components, such as a separate handle, adds to the cost and assembly time of such devices. Graters are also known to have gripping pads attached in order to aid in gripping the grating device. However, there is desired a grater which includes a housing that provides for easy gripping, grating, storing and pouring of the grated material.
The invention of this application solves these and other problems associated with prior art food graters. A food grater which is a two-in-one grater and shaker and which can be readily assembled, cleaned, and alternated between uses, is disclosed herein.